Mount Rainier, situated in Washington, US, is a simply dazzling mountain and is the tallest in the Cascade range. I work out of Seattle and for anyone who drives over the WA-520 bridge, Mount Rainier shows up with the white ice covered peak. The white ice is all credit to the many glaciers on it. The Japanese people compare it with Mount Fiji and me being a Hindu, I see Mount Kailash in it. And here is a snap of Rainier for you.
Mount Rainier on a sunny summer day
I have done only single day trips to Mount Rainier National park. There are 4 entrances to Mt. Rainier National park namely Nisqually, Stevens Canyon, White River and Carbon River. The best part of Mount Rainier I would say is the Paradise and to visit Paradise, I would recommend taking the “Nisqually entrance”.
The last trip I made to Paradise, was quite good. It was summer (mid-July), and Paradise will be the one you would have dreamt of. So how you can plan a 1-day trip from Seattle area to Mt. Rainier National Park:
Start early in the morning, around 7am. You can reach the park within 2 hours. Enter the park through the Nisqually entrance and follow the map you get at the entrance. You can have a brief view of Rainier from the “Kautz creek” and note the colors in the Kautz creek. Then continue towards “Longmire”. There is a trail on this path called “Trail of the Shadows”. You can see some the springs in the trail. They are not hot water springs but I remember reading it as hot gas (CO2) and cold water. This trail is quite scenic and you can see many wild flowers around the trail. This trail is across the Longmire museum, just to make sure you don’t miss it. 
After this trail, keep driving towards “Paradise”. The trail with a lot of adventurous sub-trails is the one to “Carter falls”. This trail is really long and it goes till Paradise. I have gone till “Madcap falls” and taken some sub-trails. Carter falls is in a really dense area and you won’t be having a great view. You will have to peep through the trees to see it falling in two strips. And do not stop with this. Go a few more feet you will see the Madcap falls. Just after the Madcap falls, there is an adventurous subtrail. Take this, and it is worth it. You need to walk on a fallen tree (I hope you will find this tree). There you will find another lovely waterfalls. This would be like the ones where you the heroines dance in Indian movies. Never worry about the down-trek, it is very easy to come down this steep hike.
After that, you can see “Christine falls” on the way to Paradise. There is a viewpoint as well you can see it from. Then comes “Narada falls”. This is just a 0.1 mile hike again and you will reach this place mostly when the sun is right above your head. There will be moisture all over the area, so take care of your cameras. This place is very famous for the rainbows. So you will definitely be taking a few snaps. If you plan to stay a little longer in this place, you might need to carry your ponchos. This falls you can reach from the Carter falls trail as well.
Narada Falls from a shady subtrail
Then you can go to Paradise. This place is right as its name tells you. It is a paradise with all wild flowers grown. You can break for lunch here. There is a Paradise Inn hotel as well in case you are planning an overnight stay. There are a lot of trails in the Paradise area. The “Skyline trail” is the longest. You can go to the Panoramic view point. You can have a look at the other peaks as you climb higher. Climbing Mt. Rainier needs permission and if you are a novice climber, you need to get a ranger to lead you. I was just happy looking at the Nisqually glacier from a distance. There are many cases of deaths, frost bites which we hear of as people go higher. On exceptional days, people climb the Nisqually glacier and ski down. On the wildlife, I have just spotted a black-tailed deer and nothing else.
After Paradise, if you go further, down the valley towards Stevens Canyon entrance, you will see the Reflection lakes. You can see the reflection of the trees and Rainier in the waters. If you are planning a longer trip, definitely visit the Silver falls and Sunrise lake. If you want to take shorter trails in Paradise, take the Alta Vista trail or Glacier Vista trail.
So, with this I would like to add a few more pics of the wild flowers in Paradise and conclude the first post of mine. This is one of the must-see places around Seattle.
A wild flower in Paradise area
Variety of wild flowers in Paradise
More wild flowers in Paradise
